


Figuring out the groundwork.

by Wolfywol



Category: Batman - All Media Types, Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Adrien Agreste Is Sunshine, Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir Ships It, Adrien Knew First, Adrien is a little shit but its okay because he's Mari's little shit, Angst with a Happy Ending, Badass Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Chloe is a lesbian, Chloe is a lesbian and you can tear it out of my cold. dead. hands, Everyone Has Issues, F/F, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Gaslighting, Hot Mess Adrien Agreste, Hurt Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, I'm Bad At Summaries, I'm Bad At Tagging, Jason is a Dork, Marinette Dupain-Cheng doesn't have time for bullshit, Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug Has a Hard Time, Marinette's parents are assholes, Maybe - Freeform, Oh, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Sassy Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Sunshine - Freeform, Tags May Change, This Is Not Going To Go The Way You Think, Tim Drake Needs a Break, What could go wrong with a little bit of Prank Calls?, but ship what, probably, that., you'll never know - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-05
Updated: 2021-02-06
Packaged: 2021-03-16 22:47:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 13,956
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29215140
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wolfywol/pseuds/Wolfywol
Summary: Marinette just wanted to live a lowkey normal life. They defeated Hawkmoth and she had had enough of magical beings! And she has had enough of everyone expecting everything from her, they expect her to do everything, and they never repay her.Not even a simple thank you.So she says "fuck you" to her classmates, school, and her parents, and transfers to a different school in a whole new country....She may or may not have dragged Adrien along with her.But it's okay! Because he also wanted to say "Fuck You!" To his old life and leave it behind him!They're older, they're better than ever, and— oh no why is he trying to intimidate her with his hideous outfit?
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir & Chloé Bourgeois, Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir & Chloé Bourgeois & Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir & Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Chloé Bourgeois & Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug
Comments: 35
Kudos: 202





	1. Chapter 1

Marinette felt like she got ran over by a truck, her hands were squeezed so tight it hurt, her left shoulder felt like it was on fire, her feet were trembling under her weight... and... 

And her eyes stung with tears as she took in the scene in front of her. A man laid there, before her, his hands in front of his face as he cowered into the far left corner. He was trembling. 

There was glass all over the ground, the window was their entry point, just a hole in the wall now. She took in a deep breath through her nose then slowly let it out through her mouth. 

She took one step towards the man before she heard a faint growl, "stay where you are," and a flash of black. 

She stayed where she was, obeying his command without a second thought. She held her breath. He slowly walked towards the man. _The monster_ her mind supplied. She shook her head. 

She stood still. He kneeled to look at the man directly. He grabbed his arms and forcefully lowered them. She heard a crack and heard the man scream in pain. She ignored it. She watched as he ripped something off of the man's chest. 

He stood back up, his shoulders shaking uncontrollably before he looked up at her. His eyes fierce, tears threatening to spill over and down his cheeks. 

He took a deep breath in then let it out, walking towards her. 

She stood very still. 

He stopped walking and stood directly in front of her. They stared into each other's eyes, breathing hard. He opened his mouth to say something but her legs gave out before he could speak. 

She took deep breaths, trying to get her emotions in check. She couldn't feel. She couldn't. Too dangerous. She couldn't. _nononono–_

She felt a hand grip her shoulder.

"Let it out." 

She opened her mouth, _I can't! I can't! I can't! Nononoonon—_

"It's over." 

Her breath hitched. _It's over._

"Let it out." 

She gulped in as much air as she could, her vision blurring. 

She heard a scream, her eyes widened. Where was the scream coming from? There wasn't anyone else here but them- where was it coming from? _Where? Wherewherewherewh-_

_Oh._

She was screaming. 

She forced her mouth close, hanging her head, moving her hands, and squeezed them around herself. If he thought she looked pathetic, he didn't say it. 

"Mari. It's over." 

She closed her eyes as tightly as she could. She knew how small and broken she looked... She was trembling, her hair was a mess, she undoubtedly had dirt all over her face, her suit was scratched and turned into rags in certain areas. 

She looked like a mess. 

" _Mari, please. It's over. Let it out. Cry with me. Please._ "

She let out a strangled noise, shaking her head frantically, ignoring the pounding pain in her head as she shook it. 

A hand clasped around her face, forcing her to look up at him. There was a bitter smile, tears running down his cheeks. He lowered his hand to reach for hers... then slowly coaxed it open. She felt a cold and heavyweight then he closed her fingers around it. 

She blinked once, twice, then looked down at her hand. 

It was a pendant. 

It was _The_ pendant. 

"It's over," he choked out.

_It's over._

She took a deep breath... 

Then cried. 


	2. Chapter 2

She doesn't register the hands under her arms until she's leaning against a familiar chest. She doesn't register the loud clicks and flashes until someone shouts over the crowd, _"I_ _s it over?"_

She lets out a small whimper and hugs him tighter, _wait_ , when did she start hugging him? She lets out an aggravated noise and tries to get him to let go of her. 

She needs to get down. She needs to remember. She needs to control her emotions. She can't lose control. _Lose control. No. No, wait. No, I can't. No... nononononono-_

"We will not be answering any questions at this time," she hears him say, his voice and the vibrations in his chest grounding her. She can hear how defeated and sad he sounds. The way his voice is slightly too high, how it shakes around the word "not" and "time". She hears it. And she hates it. She wants him to feel happy. Be happy.. she... _Want to be happy._

"Chaton," she whispers. There are still tears going down her face, she knows she looks pathetic. She's crying in front of all her fans and they're taking photos of her. They're watching her. They see how _Pathetic and broken_ she is. She tries to kick out of his hold again. 

He holds her tighter. She feels squished. But oddly safe. She's safe. _Chaton will keep me safe. Safe. Chat's. Chat. Safe. Chat is safe._ She continues to repeat that in her mind as her tears go full force once more. 

She feels safe. She... She hasn't felt safe in _s_ _o long._ She lets out a choked sound as she looks up at him. She can see the small tear stains on his face, even if all she's looking at is his chin at the moment. She knows they're there. Even if he tried to cover them up. 

She knows he's hurting more than her. She knows. She saw it. She saw him look the man ~~Monster~~ in the eyes and grab it. Grab... _Grab..? Where..._ She looks around for the pendant. 

She hiccups, trying to remember and _Stop being so useless._ "Where... Chaton... Chat. _Chat where is it."_ she says, her voice wavering. She hears him grunt, holding her with one arm while landing on a.. roof. 

They were moving? When did he shift to one arm? She hadn't felt it? Wait. Of course, they were moving. _Of course. Of course idiot. Such an idiot. Of course, we were moving._ She shifts her head from his chest and lets out an irritating sound at how wet and weird her face feels. How slippery his shoulder is now because of her tears... and his. Probably his as well. 

He slowly sits down, holding her with both his arms again. He lets out a choked off whimper and looks down at her. Tears are building up in his eyes again. 

She tries to smile at him, tries to get him to smile back at her. If she smiles then... she's happy. Smiles always equal happiness. 

"Smile for me, Chat," she whispers. She tries to wipe away her tears, tries to smile wider for him. Tries to _Stop feeling._ She needs to get back into control. She needs.. she... 

"It's over Marinette. Just," his voice is chopped up, some words not coming out correctly, "feel it. Just feel it. All the pain. All the sadness. _Feel it with me,_ it's okay now. He's—He's gone." Full-blown tears are coming down his face now. They're dripping down his chin and landing on her arms. 

She sniffs and shakes her head, she wants to feel control. She can't let herself feel. She's _Ladybug,_ And Ladybug needs to be in tip-top shape to- to fight... 

"F-Fight," she breathes out, trying to keep her voice even. She fails. 

"They're gone. They can't hurt us anymore," he whispers, putting his head into the crook of her neck. She leans her head to the side, letting him cry. He can cry. He needs to cry and feel better. She knows crying helps. 

She just can't cry right now, she needs to get her emotions in check. "W-Where are th-they?" She asks. 

She can feel his breath on her neck, feel the way he tries to get it under control enough to talk. He blows out one final breath then, "I put them in your yoyo." 

She nods her head and hugs him tighter. They're safe, then. He doesn't have them. _She_ doesn't have them. They're both powerless now. The Miraculous is safe from the hands of those ~~Monsters~~ villains. 

"Adrien.." she whispers. They both know. They can't go back to the way things used to be. No matter how much they what to. She coughs and tries to get her voice under control, "Ad-Adrien he–" 

"I know." 

She can feel how his arms tighten around her. How they flex and his hands are trying to clutch at her back, find something to hold onto. But all he's getting is her suit, there isn't anything he can grab. She sucks in a breath then breaths out, "Tikki, spots off." 

There's a bright pink light then suddenly she feels so much worse. She can't breathe without upsetting or making someone _Hurt_ so much. She feels like she's slowly dying in a fire.. trapped and alone. 

She can feel Tikki's worrying gaze on her. She sucks in one more breath, her chest screaming in pain, then she whispers once more, "Adrien... He's gone now... There's n-o one." 

Adrien whines then whispers, "Plagg, claws off," she closes her eyes before the green light blinds her. They're both in their civilian clothes now. They both can feel the worrying gaze of their Kwami. 

Before all this. Before she figured it out. Before she confronted Adrien and let him know she knew. Before he nonchalantly told her he's known for a while. Before they walked to her house together, hand in hand. Before they stared into each other eyes in from of the bakery. Before they decided to stay friends. 

Their clothes were fine. They weren't ruined. They transformed into her room and went straight for the kill. Now... Now they're sitting and crying in each other's arms, the only clue that something has happened is all the grime and dirt on their arms and faces. Their clothes look alright. Undoubtedly their asses will have dirt on them, going to be a pain to clean but.. that's fine. 

"You did good, kid," Plagg says. She can't see him but she knows he's undoubtedly resting on Adrien's head, trying to soothe him. 

She waits for Tikki to say something. Anything. She waits for her to say how pathetic she is. How stupid she was to go in there full force. She waits. And waits. She waits for the Kwami to tell her she shouldn't have been chosen to be Ladybug, to bear her miraculous, and that it has been _wasted on her._

"Oh, Marinette..." Tikki whispers, her big blue eyes full of sadness. Marinette closes her eyes, she doesn't want to see her disappointment. Doesn't want to face what a mess she's become and what a disaster she's made. 

"You did wonderfully," Tikki says Mari can tell she's directly in front of her face now. "You did all the right things, you told him what choices he had," she closes her eyes tighter, but tears still find a way past her eyelids. 

"You fought so bravely," Tikki is touching her cheek now, she grinds her teeth together, she doesn't deserve it. She doesn't deserve this praise. 

"You and Adrien kicked ass and didn't make it a huge battle," Plagg says, she can hear him purring now. Feel the vibrations from the top of Adrien's head. 

"There weren't any casualties. The civilians weren't hurt," _There could have been. There was a chance. He was going to. If I was one second behind he could've_ "You both did wonderfully." 

Marinette opens her eyes and looks into Tikki's eyes, her teeth are still clenched tight, and still, tears are going down her face. She sniffs and then lets out a sob after Tikki smiles warmly at her, tapping her.. flipper at her cheek repeatedly... trying to soothe her. 

"T-T-Tikki... I can't. I Ca-Can't" Marinette chokes out. She feels so worn down, she wants to be strong. She wants to do what's right. There's still _So much more_ to do. They need to answer questions, make official statements. _Tell everyone that those **Monsters** can't hurt them anymore. _

"Marinette, honey, let. Go." Tikki whispers. She leans up and kisses her forehead. Marinette slowly closes her eyes and lets out a sob, then she grits her teeth. she.. doesn't want to... "let it all go." she takes a shuddering breath then lets out another sob. then another one, and another. until she's letting out sobs after sobs, her shoulders shake so bad that Adrien leans into it and rocks her back in forth with him. 

They stay like that for awhile. Hugging eachother, crying, rocking, clutching at eachother's clothes. They stay like that. They let it out. They let all the pent up emotion and all the suppressed thoughts go. They let it go. 

They whisper to eachother what they've been thinking. What they're going to do. What happened. How they're going to move forward. They whisper and whisper until both their throats hurt from all the talking. 

They both feel bone deep tired. Adrien's the first one to slowly loosen is grip on her. She's the first one to let go completely. They both stand up at the same time. 

They've been on that roof for hours. 

She sucks in a breath, looks him in the eyes, then she nods looking around the roof for a way down. He taps her shoulder and nods towards the edge where red bars stick up from. _Fire escape._

She smiles and reaches out for his arm, he grabs her hand instead. She looks up from their joined hands and up at his face, he sighs and smiles at her. 

She smiles back. They're broken right now. But that's okay. 


	3. they're a mess but that's okay.

Marinette stares at her computer screen. She was scanning through all the commotion and the reactions of all the citizens. It's been a wild few weeks since the rooftop incident. Since... his defeat. 

Adrien has been visiting more often, they've talked more in the last few weeks than they have in all their years of knowing each other. As civilians, they weren't close, but as Heroes? They were as close as one can be in the line of work. 

She sighs and absently clicks on a link Alya posted on her Ladyblog. it's a page on the top 5 most dangerous cities in the world. She read the post before she clicked the link, Alya was still mad about how oblivious the rest of the world is to Hawkmoth and Akumas.

Not that she's any better. 

Paris, sadly, wasn't on the list, she knows that the miraculous makes it nearly impossible for the world outside her city to know about Akumas. She knows this, but it still makes her chest ache knowing their pain and suffering isn't public and no one would ever know about it. 

In the beginning, she was worried and skeptical about why there weren't any law enforcement badgering around the area and sending threats of quarantining the city. She had enough of not knowing why and had investigated, ~~stalking~~ following some tourist's social media for any confused and terrified posts about the Akumas.

There were a few. She continued to keep a lookout for them until she noticed that the posts stayed for exactly 24 hours before they were wiped from their accounts after they've left the city borders. She knows. She timed it, she watched them leave, and she used some of her knowledge of hacking to track the flights. She knew this because she did this multiple times. 

Airlines need better security. 

Knowing that it's extremely unlikely that their situation would ever be broadcast to the whole world, or even be acknowledged, she left the situation at that. There wasn't any point wallowing in it, it would only make her more irritated and prone to getting upset. 

But now she can get upset all she wants!

Her lips quirk up slightly at the edges, she smiles, remembering the first and only time she _intentionally_ called the justice league for help. It was a normal, as normal as it was going to get, day and she dragged Chat to make a warning video with her. She knew the League was huge and there was only a matter of time before they realized the situation here in Paris. 

She knew she had to warn them, She and Chat were able to handle regular civilians, but she doubts they could fight a Superhero turned Akuma and win. Sure they had Luka to fall back on, but he was finding his way through life and couldn't always drop everything to help them... even if he assured and told them he would. It made her feel guilty, she didn't want him to feel obligated to help, and she didn't want him to stay stuck in their small circle just on the off chance they needed him. 

She decided that swinging to the EiffelTower and recording there was the best course of action. Lots of people thought that the center of Paris was more prone to attacks. It wasn't. It was a smaller chance since everyone started moving to the edges of the city, "away" from all the damage. She grabbed her Yoyo, put it on the ground, sat down, then began to talk to it. 

It was a mess the first time. 

She didn't write anything beforehand and she kept going on random tangents, _venting_ about the Akuma situation instead of warning them. She felt better afterward, she told herself she was going to continue down that line of revelation later but at the moment she needed to record this video. She stopped the recording after realizing it was still on and going then called Chat over to help her. 

He was busy with whatever he was busy with. She didn't know at the time but Chat was getting swarmed by fans while he was trying to model. No one had any decency about his line of work when it involved another model, especially if it was a female model. So it took longer than his usual gigs. 

Marinette did the next best thing she could think of that didn't involve chat.

She vented to her yoyo. She continued to do this until he wasn't busy anymore. He landed beside her while she was mid-rant about Mr. Pigeon and his 4th akumanization of the week. It was Wednesday. He watched her curiously for 2 minutes before tapping her shoulder, letting her know, again, that he was there. She explained what they were going to do. And in his case, what he was going to do when it looked like she would start venting again. 

It was another disaster. 

She couldn't stop laughing the whole time, her nerves getting the best of her, and Chat also wanted to get his feelings across when it came to Mr. Pigeon. It was the 4th time that week and he was seriously tired of having to explain why his nose was always running. 

It went on for 5 minutes before she stopped him.

He hated Mr. Pigeon. 

After what felt like hours, which was very likely, they finally got the video done and ready to be sent. Chat volunteered to send it since he wasn't able to get there sooner. He was ready to fight her on it and she was honestly too tired to argue with him so she let him send the video. 

It was a mistake. 

He ended up sending the Justice League twovideos. One was the original speech and warning, and the second was an edited version of both their rants about the city and Mr. Pigeon. He told her later that it would make their situation more believable. 

It didn't, and on top of that, he accidentally leaked the second video where they were both ranting on about Mr. Pigeon. She was 80% sure he did it on purpose just so Mr. Pigeon could get his emotions in check a little bit more. 

He didn't, he got akamatized 3 more times the next day. It was tiring.

They got feedback from The Justice League 2 weeks after they sent them the videos. 

They didn't believe them. 

To each their own, as long as they didn't come into her city any time soon then she was fine with it. She knew that it was hard to understand and sometimes the Miraculous magic made people stray away from the truth, mixing up the facts so that they came to a more safe explanation. Like cosplay. 

She was still bitter about being called a cosplayer, _cosplayer of who?_ She wanted to ask but didn't say it. And she didn't comment about how Green Lantern told them their situation couldn't possibly be real since he's never heard of magic earrings.

_"I mean, how does that even work? Magic earrings? Psh"_

She wanted to scream at him, of all the people in the Justice League, she thought he would have been the most supportive. She knew he was wearing _his_ magical ring during the call. She didn't even want to get into how he didn't question Chat's ring. Obviously didn't want to question it since, he too, had a magical ring. 

_Hypocritical asshole, magical jewelry? How hard can it possibly be to think that there is magical jewelry that you don't know about out there in the world? Magical earrings aren't that hard to understand when there is a Lasso that makes people tell the truth._

Marinette rolled her eyes at the memory. After the discovery of The Wonders Of Talking To A Camera, she felt extremely refreshed and she felt better since then. She felt more in control. So although it left a bitter taste in her mouth, she knew that the Warning video situation was an important revelation for her and Chat's mental health. 

Suddenly her phone gave an awful screech, making her jump from her chair. She never had any number with that ringtone. And the only person that was in contact with her phone recently was Adrien. She was going to kill him the next time she saw him. 

"Yes?" She asked, her phone between her cheek and her shoulder. She needed to pay attention to the responses from their recent interview, daydreaming wasn't going to get work done around here. 

"Alya posted," Adrien said, his voice sounded muffled. Was he eating? 

She rolled her eyes, of course, he was eating, "I know." 

There was a pause and what sounded like a gulp on the other line before finally, "there's a link to the top 5 most dangerous cities in the world." 

She scoffed, "yes, Adrien, I'm aware." She closed the interview comment page and went back to the Ladybug tag on Twitts. 

"We should move this week." 

Her hand slipped and she accidentally liked a post with a photo of her ass. She groaned, she was using her Offical Account. This was going to be a nightmare. "Move this week? Where?" 

"Gotham." 

She grabbed her phone and looked down at it, narrowing her eyes. _Gotham was ranked highest on Most Dangerous City In The World. Why there?_ She heard a sputtering noise through the phone. 

"Marinette did someone hack into your account?" 

She closed her eyes and pursed her lips, "No. I did that." 

She heard something fall and a lot of moving around. He probably dropped his phone and fell out of his chair. Idiot. "Mari, you liked– you liked a post talking about your ass?" 

She sighed and lowered her phone onto her desk then put it on, Speaker. "Yes, Chat, I liked a.. photo of my ass." 

This time there was just silence. She ignored his silent sputtering and continued to scroll through the Ladybug Tag, she ignored the new posts about Ladybug Liking and undoubtedly "fantasizing" about her ass. She shuddered, why was everyone like this? She didn't even _mean to._ Which was far worse than actually meaning to like the photo. It was like a power move. But now she _had_ to act like she meant to. 

It was going to be a pain to explain. 

"So.. Gotham.." she whispered, finally having enough of the new wave of posts and reaction videos, she searched up the city. The website about The Top Five Most Dangerous Cities In The World told her the basics about the villains and the Heros. Or Vigilantes as they wanted to be called. 

There was the Big Bad Wolf named Batman, The Little Red Riding Hood Trio, Robin, Red Robin, and Red Hood, then there was someone now known as Nightwing that everyone speculates was the first Robin. They were a big weird family known as the Bat Clan. And her google search is telling her there are more Vignettes but they aren't as common as the Big Five. 

There was a lot of blad blood between Red Robin and Red Hood near the beginning of Red Hood's debut... but it seems relatively civil now. 

Then there were the Villans, Joker—

"Mari, we both know that we will never be the same. That we can't go outside without looking over our shoulders." 

She took a deep breath in. She knew. Even now, she moved her desk so that it was in the corner where she can see the trap door and her bedroom window. And she moved her bed so that it was under where it once was. There was less of a chance of someone dropping down on her, and she could properly keep an eye on her trap door. She shuddered, horrible thoughts of Sandboy reappearing into her mind. She has very heavy bags near her bed in case she ever feels the need to make sure her trap door stays shut. 

Sandboy was such a horrible Akuma. 

"But why Gotham?" She asked, shaking her to clear her thoughts away. 

She heard lots of clicking noises from her phone before her inbox chimed, a link to another website. She clicked it then groaned. 

"Adrien. Did... Did you just buy a house for us over in Gotham?" 

She heard a small muffled noise before he finally answered with, "You were going to say yes eventually. We have nothing here. We may as well go." 

She made an aggravated noise, "We have nothing here but I still haven't heard an explanation for why you chose _Gotham_ and not anywhere else." 

"I hear that it isn't weird to be skeptical and on edge all the time over there. We can be cautious and not be treated weirdly for it. It's encouraged, even." 

She pursed her lips, looking over the house he bought. It was a small and cheap, two-story building with a basement, there weren't many windows, two bathrooms, two bedrooms, and a few storage rooms. The kitchen was incredibly small. The house looked cramped, but that wasn't the problem, "please tell me you did your research about the area before you purchased the house in Gotham?" 

There was silence on the other line. 

She closed her eyes, "...We can use this house as a backup, then. I want us to take our time looking for a new place to live, Adrien. We need to find a place where us appearing out of nowhere isn't going to catch unwanted attention." 

"I think appearing out of nowhere is going to get us unwanted attention no matter where we are," she heard him mutter. 

She scoffed, "Fine, whatever. But we still need to do our research. America is different from France, Adrien. We also need to let the people of France know we're retiring." 

"About that..." 

" _Chaton._ "

"We can't keep holding their hand! They survived on their own without Chat Noir and Ladybug for years, they can learn to survive without us again." 

Her hands twitched at her phone, she wanted to throw it against a wall. _Stupid, stupid cat!_

"Would have liked a warning. Maybe an official statement. When did you do this?"

"Now." 

She covered her eyes with her arm, this was such a mess. 

"Tikki is over here, you know?" 

Marinette's eyes widen and she looks around the room for her Kwami. She didn't notice Tikki wasn't here with her. She should pay attention more... 

"Oh. Well. Uh. Tell her I said hi." 

"Okay... I'm sorry." 

"...it's fine, Adrien... we need to talk about these things together. We can't go into all this blind." 

"... I'm still sorry." 

"... okay." 

They stayed silent for a few moments before she whispered, "goodbye, Adrien."

She can hear the smile in his voice when he told her goodbye back. 

She heard the line go silent with a small beep then she looked back up at her computer screen. The next few days are going to be an absolute nightmare.

She closes her eyes, leans back in her chair, and takes a deep breath in. 

She opens her eyes, smiles, and lets it out. 

They can do this. 

She believes in Chat. 

And she believes in herself. 

Even if she thinks this is all kind of a mess. 

...that she's a mess. 

It's okay. 

Because she's Adrien's mess. 

And they're in this together. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 👀.... I honestly didn't expect myself to get this far. 
> 
> .....I love reading comments too. 
> 
> .........I read them...
> 
> ..............though I don't really reply because I'm too busy overthinking. 
> 
> .....................but that's okay.


	4. what could possibly go wrong?

If someone told Marinette 5 years ago that she was going to be packing up her bags and moving to a crime-ridden city, she would have laughed in their faces then stopped and asked "Really?" 

And would they blame her? No. Because she was small for her age back then. She's 19 now and she can still pass as a 16-year-old. In most cases, people would be thrilled to be told they looked younger than they are. 

But not Marinette. She thinks it has something to do with how people are brought up? Like how people with curly hair want straight hair and people with straight hair want curly hair? But each hair type has its own "I hate my hair" moments and it's best to stay with whatever you always had? 

She doesn't know where she was going with that thought process. But either way, she wouldn't have believed them because she was small back then. She was Baby, as Adrien would have said, and she also didn't know how to fight back then. So obviously she wouldn't have been believed them.

But now? If they told her this 3 months ago she would have jumped up and down with glee and asked them 'when'. Okay, maybe she would have been skeptical and worried about the circumstances... like if she had to pack up and run to save herself... or she accidentally revealed herself and everyone hated her... either way she would have accepted it and thought it was believable. 

Now she's packing up her bags because Adrien keeps making good points about their situation. He keeps saying that if they just up and go it could be like how the Avatar vanished when the world needed him most. Even.. if.. they defeated the evil and Paris doesn't need them anymore. He got mopey after that.

They tied up all their loose ends, she reluctantly told all the past users, Fake Classmates or not they were still Paris' Heroes, that Chat Noir and Ladybug were retiring and she told Luka that if he wanted... he could keep Sass for awhile. 

They both cried a lot that day. 

But imagine her surprise when "LadybugRetirement" and "RenaRouge" was trending on Twitts the next day. And it all began because of a post on the Ladyblog. Alya told all of Paris that she was Rena Rouge and that Ladybug told her that the Two Big Heroes were retiring for good. 

She didn't mention the fact that Ladybug specifically asked them not to talk about it until it was finalized or she made it clear that they shouldn't reveal their identities since it wasn't safe, Alya pointedly wasn't safe since she ran the Ladyblog... and lots of people were pissed off by the rumors it's been spreading the past few years. 

There was a lot of chaos and her phone kept ringing with so many pings to the point that she decided to delete the app for a while. Luka helped her through it and Sass assured her that she was still doing great. 

She couldn't bother with the situation much longer and organized a conference to _Properly_ deliver their retirement. Unlike a certain cat who posted a selfie with the caption of "Sorry, Boo, but my Nine Lives are over with you" and tagged the Paris Police Department and André Bourgeois. That was weeks ago. 

She was still mad at him about it. 

\-----

She spends a whole week packing everything before she tells her parents that she's moving out. She knows that they noticed. She _knows_ they did because they've been hanging around her room for lingering moments, asking her more questions, and trying to butter her up before they ate her alive. 

Of course, she was right. 

They ask her why she's leaving, why she can't stay, why they aren't enough, _Why she doesn't love them, weren't they good enough? Did they do something wrong? Why can't she appreciate the roof over her head? They fed her and this is how she repays them? Her mother gave birth to her, why can't she realize she has it so much better than everyone else? Realize she's given everything and she's so spoil—_

She nopped out of that conversation and hung out with Adrien for 2 days before she returned. She didn't acknowledge them at all and kept her earbuds in, she left the heavy bags of sand on her trap door so they couldn't open it to see her. 

She called on Kaalki multiple times during that week so she could shove all her boxes into Adrien's room. He didn't mind. If anything he would always cheer for her whenever he saw the portal open in the middle of his room. 

They were finally done packing everything, all they needed to do was ship it over to Gotham. They agreed that it would suspicious to have all their belongings in Gotham without any receipts or flights with their luggage so they decided to not use Kaalki. 

The heavy-duty stuff was shipped earlier that day, and they decided to keep their eyes on the more important luggage. Like the Miracle Box and Marinette's Sewing machine. They both agreed that those two items were on the top of their priorities. 

They thought that they would catch The Wolf's attention, they heard rumors of his team keeping track of the civilians that walk the grounds of Gotham so they went the safe route with their luggage... They also didn't want to deal with his ugly ass costume.

Adrien stood through most of her rants for hours before he sat her down and told her that he was going to leave whenever her rants went over the 40-minute mark. And he wasn't going to listen to her rant again until at least 1 hour and 30 minutes passed since her last one. 

She didn't blame him and agreed to his rules.

She was feeling particularly mad about a certain someone's name and costume. She told Adrien how Red Hood is named Red _Hood_ Because of something that happened with the Joker but he wears a _H_ _elmet_ and not a _Hood._ Hideous helmet too. 

She passed the 40-minute mark and while she was getting into the meat of why Red Hood was one of the best, if not _the_ best out of the Little Red Riding Hood Trio, Adrien walked away from her and sat down on the couch to watch TV. Their Kwami were watching them on the top shelf, no doubt wondering what they were going to do with their chosen. 

She felt muffled by his departure so she did the only thing she could do. She said the magic words. 

"Utterly ridiculous."

Adrien's head popped up and he looked at her incredulously. They both knew was this meant and are she wasn't backing down from him, "Utterly Ridiculous," He whispered back to her. 

She smirked and grabbed at her phone just as he jumped over the couch and ran for his phone on the Foosball table. They both called the same number, she stood still and watched as he walked over to her. Both of them focused on the rings. 

Once.... twice... they looked at each other before the person picked up on the third ring, "Hello?" 

The caller answered Marinette's phone.

She grinned up at him, he scowled. 

"Hello?"

Adrien huffed out a breath, he caught her eye, then looked back down at her phone. He slowly grinned at her before they both screamed, "RIDICULOUS!" 

The caller sighed before joining in with them, "UTTERLY RIDICULOUS," all three yelled in unison. 

The person on the other side of the phone laughed, Marinette could hear how muffled it sounded. It also sounded like she needed it. "What happened now, dorks?" 

Adrien looked up at Marinette, his eyebrow raised. 

_What happened?_

She narrowed her eyes at him then looked down at the luggage and her open sketchbook where a costume design was in the making. 

_You left me hanging._

He rolled his eyes.

"Oh, you know..." Marinette began, walking in circles around Adrien, "Moving stuff..." she trailed off and looked up at Adrien, smiling. 

He smiled back. 

"Moving stuff..." The caller said.

Marinette nodded her head, "Yeah... and how Red Hood is the Be—" 

She was interrupted by a screech on the other end of the line, "He is _not_ the best one out of the Red Trio–"

"Little Red Riding Hood Trio." 

There was a squawk on the other side of the line, "Fine! Red Hood isn't the best one out of the Little Red Riding Hood Trio! Red Robin is obviously superior." 

Adrien stood there while both of his best friends argued over who was better out of all three. He didn't even want to open his mouth and suggest that maybe they were both wrong and Nightwing was the original— _o_ _r so people say—_ so he was _obviously_ the best out of all the Reds. 

Marinette giggled after Adrien raised his arms in defeat and walked away from her argument with Chloe. 

They eventually calmed down enough to ask each other how their days have been. Chloe asked her when they expected to start living in The Wolf's Domane. 

"...maybe by the end of next month?" She said, looking up at Adrien. He was glaring at the phone but slowly nodded although not before he flipped her off.

She pursed her lips, "yeah by the end of next month probably." 

She looked back down at her phone. A second later Adrien sat down next to her, waiting for Chloe's response with her. 

"That's... That's nice." 

Adrien looked up from her phone to silently raise his eyebrows. 

Marinette smiled lightly at him, "Our offer still stands, Chloe," She said.

They heard a faint sigh on the other line, as if Chloe was farther away from her phone, "I know, I know I just..." 

"The offer will always stand, Chloe" Adrien whispered, he leaned his head against Marinette's shoulder. His legs were spread out and he kept tapping her foot with his. "You can accept whenever you want." 

"Will it—will I, though?" 

Marinette played with the fabric of her shirt. She was always nervous when they talked about moving to Gotham, she Didn't know what to do with her hand. Adrien reached over and grabbed it, intertwining her fingers with his. He hummed softly. 

"Your choice, Chlo. Just know it will always be there for whenever you're ready" He said 

"...okay.." 

\---------

The three of them decided that they should meet each other one last time before they left. They'll meet up at Master Fu's massage shop. 

Marinette knew she was legally the owner of it. And that she should be using it. But she couldn't. She couldn't keep it and use it when it should be _His._ It should be Master Fu's. It will always be _His_ massage shop. And it will remain to be that way for the for forever unless.. unless she needs it, which she didn't at the moment.

Adrien shifted his feet and reached for her hand he brought it up to his lips and kissed it. He was trying to soothe her, trying to let her know that he missed him too. He lowered her hand, swinging their arms slightly. 

She smiled at him then looked down at her feet. It just wasn't the same without him. She knows she should be bitter about him throwing the Miraculous at them and not saying a word until Tikki and Plagg absolutely _had_ to reveal him to her and Adrien. She knows she should be bitter and mad about it. But she isn't. She just misses him. 

"You guys wait for long?" 

She looked up at her rival turned friend. Chloe was a great friend, she confessed that the only reason she was mean to Marinette and pushy with Adrien was that she wasn't comfortable with her sexuality. She liked Marinette and she didn't _want_ to like her that way, so she pushed Marinette away. And she knew Adrien would never accept her feelings so she always flirted with him. 

He was safe to flirt with. He was her rock and he would never want to date her. So if she could flirt with Adrien then she could convince herself she easy straight and... and the reason why she hated girls flirting with him was because if he dated someone? Then she couldn't use him as an "I'm Totally Straight" reminder. 

It was a weird conversation, Adrien knew but didn't know how to start that conversation up. And Marinette knew that was Chloe did wasn't going to be excused. But she did _Genuinely l_ ook sorry. So she accepted her apology and they tried to start a new friendship. 

And it was a success. 

"Not long," Adrien said. He raised his arms for a hug, dragging Marinette with him. 

"I don't appreciate being manhandled," she muttered. 

Chloe cooed at her, "you're adorable when you lie." 

Marinette rolled her eyes and offered her a hug as well. Chloe made a show of looking between Adrien or her then finally nodded and tackled Marinette, almost making her fall. 

Marinette squeaked, "Chloe! The ground is _slippery!"_ She could hear Adrien laughing, she shook her head. 

"It's okay, it's fine, I'm here now so whenever you fall I can just say that you fell for me!" 

Marinette pursed her lips to keep herself from laughing, she scrunched her eyebrows and looked up at Adrien. He grinned and shrugged his shoulders, _What can you do?_

"I want a hug too, Chlo," Adrien said, walking around the two of them while raising his hands again, ready for a hug. 

Chloe made a surprised noise then let go of Marinette and quickly engulfed Adrien in a hug. He held onto her and they swayed together. Chloe started to hum All I Want For Christmas Is You. he grinned and leaned down to kiss her forehead, "Hello, Chlo." 

Marinette grinned and crossed her arms over her chest. She loved these dorks. She's glad they can relax now and not think about how much time they have left together before another Akuma attacked. 

She could relax and just enjoy the moment, she closed her eyes breathed in the winter air. It felt nice. 

"We're still going to André's, right?" Chloe asked. 

Marinette tilted her head to the side, the leaned into the direction until she was about to fall, smirking when Adrien tried to catch her. Chloe squawked, "Wha—"

She stood straight again, and skipped ahead of them, "God I thought you guys were going to hug for forever." 

Chloe laughed and skipped alongside her, they left Adrien. He'll catch up after his blank moment was over.

\--------

She could look at the scene before her and say "Yeah, I expected this to happen." And she wouldn't be a liar. 

They spotted and reached André's stand before it happened. Someone grabbed the back of Marinette's hoodie and pulled her back, almost making her fall. 

"Hey, what–" 

She was face to face with The Wicked Witch of The West and one of her Winged Monkies. Or better known as, Lila and Alya. 

"Lila I don't want to deal with y–" 

Adrien grabbed Lila's arm and lightly nudged it off of Mari's hoodie, glaring at her. He pulled Marinette towards him and laid his arm protectively around her shoulders. 

_Uhm. Okay._

"Hello, Adrien," Alya said. She had her "I'm Not Here To Play" face and she was leaning against the Locket Fence. 

Marinette could feel Chloe move around Adrien, she lightly grabbed her sweater sleeve. She smiled to herself, at least she had her friends with her. 

"What do you want, Lila," Chloe asked, she raised her hands up to her face as if checking her nails. She waited 30 seconds before looking up from her nails and over at Lila, "Well..?" 

Alya stood straighter, glaring at Chloe, "she doesn't have to answer you, Chloe." Leave it to Chloe to make the Witch and her Monkey stand on edge, she loved it.

Adrien lowered his head and let his chin rest on Marinette's head, "we were in the middle of something, ladies. If you don't need anything we'll be on our–" 

"Marinette sent Lila death threats," Alya forced out as if it was poison in her mouth. 

Marinette raised her eyebrow at them, "Death Threats?" 

That wasn't even funny. Nothing is _funny_ about lying about death threats or anything related to harmful shit. What a _load of fucking bullshit._

"You know what, ladies, I don't want to deal with this right now. We'll be taking our leave," Adrien muttered, turning and dragging Marinette away from the two girls in front of them. 

Chloe blew a piece of hair out of her eyes and flipped the girls off before walking towards André's stand. 

She could hear the squawk of both girls, she grinned to herself, momentarily forgetting about the lie Alya told them. 

"Hello André," Marinette said, smiling at the vendor. 

He smiled back at her, "it has been quite some time since I've last seen you, Marinette!" 

Chloe grinned, "these two are heading out for the United Stated tomorrow, care to give them a farewell ice cream?" 

Adrien moved his arm off of Marinette's shoulder and raised them nervously, "we'll pay for them of course." 

André smiled warmly at the blond, "for you three I will give you a 50% discount. I am honored to have served you all these years." 

Marinette smiles sadly at him, she'll miss just as much as she'll miss her city... well... it isn't her city anymore, is it..? 

She shakes that thought process away and grins at Chloe, "you didn't have to butter him up, Chloe!" 

Chloe sticker her tongue out at Marinette, she squeaks and lightly punches on the shoulder. They both narrow their eyes at each other. 

André laughs at them then asks Adrien what he would like to have. 

Adrien purses his lips, looking down at the ice cream selection before shrugging, "surprise me, André." 

Chloe and Marinette ask André to surprise them as well and then they're on their way down The Locket Bridge. 

"...I know I say this all the time and you don't like me saying it," Marinette looks up at Chloe, she raises her eyebrows in return, "but it's crazy that I can—I can actually feel what I want now." 

Chloe wraps her arm around Marinette's waist and gives her a side hug, resting the side of her face on her shoulder. 

"It's... yeah it's really something," Adrien whispers, looking up at the sky. Most people would look at them and call them unlucky for what's happened to them... to their city. 

But this could have happened to anyone. And he's just glad that they were able to put an end to it. How many out there can say that their city isn't terrorized by an Evil Moth Man anymore? How many cities suffer and are still suffering through their villain problems? Like Gotham. 

He thinks they're lucky they were able to defeat the evil. _Even if it was my Father..._

"Okay no more sad times," Marinette yells, raising her arms high above her head, "it's time to go home, get massively drunk, and prank call The Sun!" 

Chole makes a questioning noise, "The Sun?" 

Marinette lowers her arms slightly and stares at the ground, "did I say The Sun? Uh. No. Uh... we're going to prank call some people, just know that." 

Adrien laughs, "alright." 

Yeah, he thinks this is fine. 

What could possibly go wrong? 


	5. "Uh... hello?"                "I'm Batman."

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Marinette accidentally calls a certain bird. 
> 
> And Little Red I'm Special says 'fuck you' to the universe.

Jason was having an off day, he gets those sometimes. He woke up this morning and he just _knew_ it was going to be a shitty day. He didn't know why it was going to be shitty, he just _knew_ it _was._

He spent the next few minutes staring at his ceiling, contemplating if getting out of bed was worth it. Was it really worth getting out of bed today? He could stay, sleep, and get a few good moments into the day before it all went horribly wrong. 

He stayed like that for five more minutes before he decided that the universe might say that today was going to be horrible. but he'd be damned if he stood by and didn't try to make it a good day instead. 

_Because, fuck you, Universe!_

"What about the Universe?" Tim asked, leaning forward into Jason's room. Jason swore he had no idea what the word 'Privacy' meant. This was just one of the examples of Tim's invasive behavior when it came to Jason's room. There were multiple other examples... like stealing his socks for some reason. 

"Today is going to be shit," Jason said with confidence. He sat up, moved his legs over the edge of his bed, raised his arms high above his head, and then stretched. Maybe if he ignored the feeling, it would go away? 

"How.. do you know..?" Tim looked like he needed to crawl into a cave and hibernate. Jason figured he probably did with all those all-nighters he does. The kid needs to sleep. 

"I just know," Jason answered. He stretched once more then walked across the room towards his closet. 

"So today is going to be shitty, then?" 

Jason huffed out a breath and nodded, "It's okay, Replacement, I'm going to make sure today is going to a good day instead. Fuck the universe, y'know?" 

Tim paled, "maybe don't curse at the universe?" 

Jason shook his head, the universe can smell fear. No one teaches kids anything these days. He focuses on the clothes in front of him, ignoring whatever Tim is about to say. 

He pulls out a black t-shirt and nods to himself, that'll have to do. He has to at least wear a shirt and be 'decent' or else Alfred will give him the 'I'm Disappointed In You But I Won't Tell You That' face. 

He shudders at the thought and pulls the shirt over his head. He looks over at Tim when he gets his head through the top of the shirt, "Anything else, Replacement?" 

Tim shakes his head, the bags under his eyes seem much darker than they usually are when he does his all-nighters. Jason frowns, he's going to have to hide all the coffee and replace it with decaf soon. 

Tim taps on the side of his door before nodding and walking towards the stairs. Jason doesn't question it and looks around his room. He doesn't think he's missing anything..? Then he remembers his phone, a course he can't leave without it. He walks over to grab it then raises his eyebrows when it starts to ring. 

Why is someone calling him at 7 am in the morning? Everyone he knows hates mornings and would rather sleep in until at least 12 pm. _What the hell?_

He walks over to the counter and looks at his phone screen, it's an Unknown Number. He desperately wants to ignore it but he did say he was going to make today a good day... And what better way of doing that than answering Unknown Numbers? Who knows he might make a friend or something. 

That's what people with an optimistic outlook in life say, right? Right? Probably. 

He reaches for the phone and answers it before the caller gets tired of waiting. He raises it up to his ear while he walks out of his room and down the hall towards the stairs. The call is completely silent, he scrunches his eyebrows. 

"Hello," he asks. He reaches the stairs and starts walking down when there's a muffled sound on the other end of the call. 

Someone is on the other side of the line, then. Interesting . 

He reaches the bottom of the stairs and starts walking towards the kitchen. He notes the people already sitting at the table, Tim, Damian, and Bruce. Seems like Dick isn't awake yet. 

Jason squints his eyes then nods his head towards Damian, _hello._

Damian raises one of his eyebrows at Jason, _who are you on the phone with this early in the morning?_

Jason shrugs his shoulders, _don't worry about it._

He ignores Bruce's constipated face and focuses on the napkin in front of him. He can feel their stares but ignores them when there is more sound on the other end of the call. 

He waits patiently for the Caller to talk when his phone lets out a loud shriek straight into his ear. He winces and pulls the phone away, he looks at the screen then at Damian, who has both his eyebrows up now, _what the fuck?_

Jason rolls his eyes and hesitantly puts the phone back towards his ear again. He blows out a breath "Hello," he hesitantly asks. 

He ignores how Damian looks up at Tim then at Bruce. He knows they're having a silent conversation about him but he can't bring himself to care at the moment. 

"Hi! This is–" a noise, _g_ _lass hitting the floor?_ Interrupts the caller, "–Chloe! What the fuck!" 

He purses his lips, he knows he should be concerned since it sounded like some glass was broken on the other line... but he can't bring himself to, he wants to laugh at the way the woman on the phone spoke to her–he presumes–Friend. 

"Hello," he says more confidently knowing that there _is_ someone on the other side and they can hear him fine. 

He looks up from his napkin, just in time to see Tim waving his hands in his direction in a, _who the hell is he on the phone with?_

He looks over to see Damian's response. 

Damian raises his own hands and mimics cutting his throat then he shrugs, _how the fuck am I supposed to know?_

Jason hesitantly looks towards Bruce to see how he's fairing with his Unknown Number Situation. 

He looks constipated. Like usual. 

Alfred walks into the room and hands everyone a glass of water, assuring everyone that breakfast will be done and served in 3 minutes. 

"Are you okay," he asks the person on the other end of the phone. He reaches for the cup of water and starts taking a sip from it when he hears more muffled sounds. 

There's a small squeak and some whispers before, finally, someone speaks. He sounds young... and drunk, "Hello, yes, this is..." he stops talking and there are more whispers, "This is Batman." 

Jason spits out the water and holds in his laugh, he needs to do this just right or it won't work. 

"Yes, and I'm Red Hood," he easily replies after 3 seconds. 

He could hear a small strained noise coming from Bruce, he ignores it and waits for a reply from the Unknown Number. He knows there are at least 3 people, 2 Females, one Male, and they might be drunk off their asses. 

"Oh my god, Adrien what the fu–" the original caller is interrupted by lots of shushing noises and a "you gave up Adrien's name, Marinette!" By another female voice. The friend, maybe? 

He loves this so much, he knows all their names now. The original caller's name is Marinette, her friend's name is Chloe, and the guy's name is Adrien. 

Nice. 

"Don't shush me! What if he actually is Red Hood!" 

He purses his lips, if this continues down the road he thinks it's going, he might need to end the call early. Sad, but necessary in case one of them isn't drunk. 

"If he is, tell him Red Robin is better!" 

He closes his eyes and hangs his head, _Of course, her friend likes Boy Wonder more than me._ He looks up and glares at Tim. Tim's eyes widen and he raises his hands in surrender, _The hell did I do?_

"We've been over this, Chloe, Red Hood is obviously the best out of the Little Red Riding Hood Trio."

He hangs his head again and hits his thigh repeatedly in an effort to not laugh. His shoulders tremble with his effort, _Little Red Riding Hood Trio, what the hell._

"You guys are _both_ wrong. Nightwing is obviously superior since he was the original Robin." The guy replies. 

Jason stills for a moment. Is he guessing or does he know? If he does know, how does he know? 

"Adrien, Baby? Sunshine child? No, just, no. It's obvious that all four of them were Robins before they took a different title, Nightwing isn't included in the Little Red Riding Hood Trio because he wears blue instead of red now. Get with the program," The Orginal Caller says. 

Jason sits up straighter then gives Tim a sharp look, "track this phone call." 

Tim is immediately up and out of his chair, Damian's head is tilted in consideration, Bruce is trying his hardest to get Jason to explain with his ' I'm Disappointed, Explain. Now.' Face, and Dick just walked into the room. 

He looks confused, Good. 

Jason lets out a long breath, what else do these kids know? He moves his phone away from his face and groans into his shoulder, he knew today was going to be shitty. 

Maybe he shouldn't have cussed at the universe. 

Or maybe he just needs to cuss it out more.

Its worth a shot.

_Fuck You, Universe!_


	6. "What's Wrong With Your Voice?"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marinette just wanted to have a lowkey normal life. She wanted to be like those teenagers who got blackout drunk and prank called people and then had no idea why they have so many missed calls from random people all over the world. 
> 
> Instead she gets to wake up tied to a chair. 

Marinette just wanted to have a normal life. She wanted to be like those teenagers who got blackout drunk and prank called people and then had little to no idea why there were lots of missed messages on their phone the next day.

But of course, she couldn't have that! No, she gets to wake up tied to a metal chair instead. 

In all her time, she can properly say that she's had her fair share of 'Woke Up Tied To A Chair' moments. Sometimes it was intentional, practice with her teammates in case something went horribly wrong, and sometimes it wasn't. Times like this, where she couldn't really remember _how_ she got here but she can guess _why._

It definitely had something to do with their prank calls. 

She thought she had everything under control. Literally, she wrote "control" on a small piece of paper and put it under the Ctrl key as a reminder and Chloe had assured her that she had enough alcohol to get all three of them drunk. 

Or as drunk as Adrien and Marinette could get since wearing the same Miraculous for so long can cause the Miraculous to be fond of you. And when a Miraculous is fond of you, it wants to keep you as safe as possible. And the only way to do that without suiting up is to give their Chosen gifts. Plagg had assured them that it wasn't harmful and that the gifts were relatively harmless. 

While Marinette and Adrien appreciated the gifts... they were sometimes more inconvenient than helpful. Their Miraculous gifted them the ability to heal faster, which in turn made their metabolisms faster. They both have to eat twice as much as they usually would have and they both had an incredibly hard time getting drunk since the alcohol passes through their systems so quickly. So it's a blessing and curse, really. 

Tikki told them that their Miraculous gives their Chosen gifts after 2 years of being active. And they gain a gift every year after that. They had the Black Cat and Ladybug Miraculous for 5 years going on 6... 

Marinette doesn't even want to think about their last gift. She could appreciate that the Ladybug miraculous wanted to warn her of danger, but Humans and ladybugs have different natural predators. And she hates how every time she goes outside she has to mentally prepare herself so that she doesn't scream whenever she sees a crow. 

She still can't look at crows the same way anymore. 

Marinette mentally shook her head, she had to focus on her current situation. She's kept her breathing even the whole time she's been conscious, she can feel the sweat on her neck, and it doesn't feel like there are any vents in the room since the air is too still. Her hands are stiff behind her back, her wrists, arms, and ankles are tied to the chair... smart but not smart enough since her knees aren't tied as well. 

Her eyelids aren't completely blacked out, so the lights are on, but it isn't overly bright and she doesn't feel any heat near her face... so they don't have a lamp aimed at her. She can't hear anything, it's too quiet for her liking, she can only hear her breathing and no one else's... which means she's alone in the room.

It doesn't look like she's going to get any more information unless she opens her eyes. She silently weighs the pros and cons of doing so and on one hand, she can gather more information about her surroundings and maybe find a way to escape. But on the other hand, her Captors will know she's awake and that usually starts their boring monologue... she waits and thinks on it before she mentally shrugs, _beats sitting around and waiting for nothing to happen I guess._

She slowly changes her breathing pattern then opens her eyes, she carefully lifts her head and looks around the room... just as she's thought. 

The room is empty, there doesn't seem to be any vents anywhere and there's only one door. The walls around her are bare except the one in front of her which she suspects is made out of fog glass since she can see a red humanoid blob walking on the other side. But it's unclear if they're male or female. 

She wonders if Adrien and Chloe are here as well. If they are, they aren't in the room and they definitely aren't in the room in front of her. She has to give it to her Captors, they're kind of smart, you should never hold teammates in the same room.

She leans forward to see if the chair will go with her, it doesn't. She looks down at the chair's legs and just as she's thought, the chair is bolted down. She frowns at the bolts and finally tests the rope around her wrists, they arent that tight and she can easily take them off, did they do this to test her knowledge? 

She leans back against her chair and rests the back of her head on the top rail. She stares at the ceiling and wonders when her Captors are going to come in and check on her. She can't do anything at the moment except think... or...

She whistles the beginning of 'Different' and waits for a response. They came up with a series of songs they can whistle to communicate with one another. In this case, 'Different' is asking if everyone is accounted for.

She waits a full minute before pursing her lips and looking towards the Fog Glass Wall, just in time to see the Fog fade away and leave the glass crystal clear. The red blob she's seen earlier turns out to be the youngest of the Little Red Riding Hood Trio. Its Robin. 

Her left eye twitches. This has to be a dream, right? They haven't stepped a single foot in Gotham and they already got in trouble with The Big Bad Wolf. What did they even do? It's not like prank calls do any harm? Do they do this to everyone who calls one of their civilians? _Overprotective, much?_

She tilts her head slightly, taking in as many details of the room beyond the glass door. It doesn't seem like anything interesting is happening over there. The walls are as bare as the walls of the room she's in, there are two doors on the left wall, and Robin is standing in the center of the room. She notices that he seems to be holding something, it's black and blocky... maybe it's remote?

Does the remote change the texture of the Glass Wall? 

She sees him fiddle with the device before and her room suddenly isn't quiet anymore, she can hear small beeps and something that sounds like fabric shifting against another type of fabric. His cape, probably.

She takes a deep breath in, they already seen her whistle... she can play it off as her being bored... or she can say 'fuck it' and check on her teammates. She contemplates those choices before mentally shrugging again.

She whistles the tune once more. It takes 5 seconds before she gets a response from a certain female in the form of Jingle Bells. She doesn't smile, though, since Jingle Bells usually means they're in a tough situation. And she hasn't gotten a response from Adrien... maybe he wasn't captured? 

She focuses on Robin's remote, she doesn't want to look at his horrendous costume if she can help it. He eventually notices she's staring at the remote and he crosses his arm, tucking his right hand with the remote under one of his arms. He walks over towards the right wall and leans on it. 

He doesn't say anything and neither does she. Does he want to start a standoff with her? She's been known to be the most patient when it comes to stare offs. Her teammates hated her whenever she decided to stay silent and stare at them. It unnerved them, especially if she didn't move at all. 

He doesn't seem to mind, though. 

Since she isn't going to be moving for a while, she tries to remember what they did the night before. She knows they arrived at Chloe's hotel room and were drinking Vodka and Absinthe. Or Chloe was drinking Vodka and she and Adrien each had their own bottle of Absinthe. 

She knows they eventually started calling random companies and got yelled at a lot but that was fine. The last thing she can remember that _wasn't_ using the bathroom was going through a list of Paris Police Officials when Chloe drunkenly says they should... call a number from Gotham..? Or was it to call the pizza restaurant down the street? She rocks her brain for more information but all she's getting is the taste of Absinthe. 

She moves her eyes from the remote to Robin's face. He raises an eyebrow at her, she doesn't give him the satisfaction of raising one of her own. They continue to stare at each other before she hears a click, _a door opening?_

He opens his mouth to say something no doubt talking to the newcomer but she can't hear what he says, it's too faint for her ears to catch. 

She wishes she could lip-read, she knows Chloe can... she should start practicing. 

She hears small thuds slowly becoming louder, whoever they are they have a heavy foot and be walking towards her door. 

She then hears a loud click and a breeze of cold air, but she doesn't look at the noise. She still focuses on Robin, even if she desperately wants to look away from the clashing colors he's wearing. 

"Marinette Dupain-Cheng, 19 years old, born on the 9th of July, she's an aspiring fashion designer, she's worked with Jagged Stone and is his alleged Niece." 

She knows that voice. It's Red Hood's voice. Or the voice he uses whenever he has his helmet on... none of the other bats have a voice modifier, she figures it was because he was the second Robin and didn't want others to recognize his voice. And going by the rumors about his name, she might be correct. 

She knows he recited information about her to make her uncomfortable, but a simple Google search can get you the same information. She isn't bothered, he should try harder. Though she's flattered he knows her name. Even.. if... it's to make her uncomfortable...

Robin moves his mouth some more, no doubt talking to Red Hood. She can see his shadow shift from the corner of her eye. She wants to talk to him, she's sort of a fan.

She's totally on board with killing Joker, too. She's still kind of annoyed that Batman hasn't put an end to him yet... she knows he has morals about killing and all that nonsense, but one life, especially Jokers, doesn't matter if that Life is going to make thousands of other lives suffer. Especially if that singular life doesn't benefit anyone else's if they continue to live. She blinks once, _wow that was a dark thought._

Maybe she called Batman and told him to kill Joker? 

"Your friend over there whistled after you did. You seemed to become less tense when she did, is that a system you guys use to communicate? What does it mean?" 

Robin says something else then turns away towards the, she presumes, doors. He looks back at her and then nods over towards Red Hood's direction before walking away.

She purses her lips then looks down at her lap. She knows she isn't going to go anywhere if she continues to play Antagonizer... if she answers his questions will she be able to leave soon? 

Now that she actually thinks about her situation... There isn't any good reason why they've tied her to a chair. She's just a 'normal' civilian girl who prank called people recently. She hasn't done anything incriminating in all of her life. They took her from her home and now she's sitting in a room that's probably somewhere in Gotham. 

She furrows her eyebrows, and if they know she's Ladybug then they probably wouldn't have tied her to a chair. There are literally zero reasons why she's being "interrogated" by the Batclan. Though she has to admit... the way she's been acting isn't the way a typical civilian would act given that she's just been kidnapped by a group of her—Vigilantes. 

She looks back up at the glass wall, her playful mood gone. She whistles the beginning of 'Different' again to check if Chloe's okay still. She doesn't get a response. 

"You ready to talk, Buttercup?" 

She looks over at Red Hood. She isn't in the mood to beat around the bush anymore, "Why am I here," she asks. Her voice is controlled and she knows that her eyes are burning with fury, she just can't take the extra moment to care about it. 

She's pissed off. Normally she'd be nervous about having that emotion, She would have tried to control it and beat it down until she couldn't feel it anymore. But Hawkmorh is gone now and she can feel whatever she wants without backlash. 

Well... in most cases.

"Why are you here," he asks, tilting his head to the side. He takes a step into the room and uncrosses his arms. 

She doesn't want to play this 'Ask And Repeat' game with him, she unties the ropes around her wrists and lets it fall limply to the ground. She knows she shouldn't be making him tense and defensive around her. 

She knows she shouldn't give him another reason to be on guard around her. She knows. But she doesn't care, she's supposed to be an _innocent_ civilian and they have _no reason_ to have kidnapped her and Chloe... and possibly Adrien if he's here. 

He stands up straighter, noticeably taller than he was before. She knows he was 193 cm but seeing it in photos and seeing him in real life, especially in this circumstance... makes her feel small. Why is she always around tall people? It isn't fair. 

"Why am I here," she says, any hint of a question in her voice gone now. She isn't making this any easier on herself, she knows. And she knows that Adrien would be facepalming and screaming at her to stop giving Red Hood and the Batclan reasons to distrust her. 

But she can't stop. 

"Are you really in the position to be demanding me to answer?" He walks into the room and doesn't stop until he's standing in front of her. She has to lean her head back to look up at him. It's unfair that he gains a level of 'intimidation' since he has his helmet on... she can't see his face or his reactions. 

"Seeing as I've just been kidnapped, yes, I do believe I'm in my right to question why I'm here. Against my will, may I add?" 

She likes to think he has a deep concentration face going on under the helmet, maybe pursing his lips while squinting at her... probably trying to figure out her angle. Though she doesn't have one. 

"Marinette Dupan-cheng you—" 

There's a loud crash and a familiar scream, "Ridiculous! Utterly ridiculous!" 

Marinette's eyes widen and she quickly tries to take off the rope around her arms, "If you hurt her I swear to fucking God I will rip that helmet off your face and make you–" He quickly walks around and grabs her arms before she's able to properly untangle the rope. "–get your slimy ass hands off of me." 

"I'm sure she's fine," he replies, holding her wrists with one hand and grabbing the rope with the other. He quickly tightens it and wraps it around her arms a few more times. 

She growls under her breath, "I will _bite_ you if you don't let go of me." 

She hears more crashing and another familiar voice, "Chloe calm the fuck down!" 

_So Adrien_ is _here._

"Never thought you would have been the one to cuss so much, I expected the Blonde to have the sailor's mouth." 

She wants to tell him to go fuck himself, so she does, "Go Fuck Yourself."

He doesn't say anything but he does tighten the rope around her arms, she can't even hear his breathing, _Does he have a mute button in his helmet? Now that's just unfair._

She weighs the choices she has currently, she can cuss him out more (very fun), she can whistle to communicate with Adrien and Chloe (wherever they are), or she could slowly loosen the ropes around her ankles and hightail out of the room. 

She hangs her head, ignoring how Red Hood's hands have migrated from her arms to her shoulders, and slowly moves her ankles to loosen the ropes.

She realizes she could still whistle while she tries to escape, so she whistles the beginning of 'Different' and almost immediately gets back a response from both her teammates. 

The beginning of 'Don't Worry, Be Happy'... she pauses and assesses it. That's their way of saying 'We're Great, Enemy Is Neutral, Stop What You're Doing' they may be fine but she doesn't trust it. She doesn't trust that their 'enemy' is neutral.... she tentatively moves her head around and looks up at Red Hood.

"Are you going to unmute yourself?" She chooses to ignore how his hands grip her shoulders tighter. _He—Vignettes and their secrets. It's not that hard to find out. Context clues are a thing!_

A second later she can hear his breathing again, "You definitely know too much." 

She purses her lips and closes her eyes. She needs to get her emotions in check and not continue to potentially get them all in more trouble... for whatever reason, that may be. 

"...you really piss me off," she whispers, moving her head away from him and towards the ground. She can be honest. She could speak her thoughts. 

"We haven't done anything and now we're stuck here, which is ironic since we were supposed to move to Gotham last night."

She forces her body to relax, "And... why are we..," she looks back up at his helmet again, "Tied up..? We haven't done anything." 

His breathing is cut off, _he muted himself again,_ and he removes a hand from her left shoulder. She continues to stare up at him, waiting for a reply. 

Eventually, he lets go of her other shoulder and unmutes himself, "get out of those ropes and follow me." Then he walks out the door. 

She scoffs at his back, "why can't you just untie me!" 

She hears a bark of distorted laughter but he doesn't stop walking. She huffs out a breath then mentally calls out to Tikki. She's sure that there isn't anyone in close vicinity to see her and if there are cameras... well they can't capture her Kwami anyways. 

A second later Tikki pops her head out of the ground and smiles warmly at Marinette, "I was worried Robin was going to see me." 

Marinette smiles down at Tikki then nods towards the rope around her ankles. The Kwami nods and starts to unknot the rope while Marinette works on shimmying out of the rope around her arms. 

She focuses on Tikki's presence before she suddenly disappears. She looks down at her ankles then looks up at the glass wall to see Batman walking into the room. Her eyes widen and she looks back down at her untied ankles. _Aw fuck._

He stops in front of the glass and stares at her. Is he trying to intimidate her? _Good luck with that outfit._

"Red Hood told me to..?" She tries, maybe if she tells the truth he'll go away and spare her from looking at him any longer. He doesn't leave... and he doesn't seem impressed. 

"You left her _with who?_ " She hears Adrien scream. 

Glad she isn't the only one horrified by her current situation. 

"Do you know why you're here, Marinette Dupain-Cheng?" 

She hides her face in her shoulder, she cannot smile at Batman. She _will not_ smile at Batman. She will _not_ laugh at Batman. She loses her mental battle with herself and laughs. Her laughter is muffled by her shoulder, so at least it isn't as bad as it could've been... right? 

She tries to muffle her laughter but she can't. It's too hilarious! She can't believe he's trying to intimidate her! Sure she knew that he made his voice deeper to intimidate criminals, she's seen most of the videos. But after being a superhero who regularly went through portals and has seen almost everything ~~she can never forget Syren even after all these year~~ s and a Deep Voice™ just can't compare to any of it. 

It's adorable and hilarious that he thinks he can make her scared. Sure he's tall as a giraffe and he can make her feel slightly small, but will that scare her? No. No, it will not. 

She feels giddy for some reason. Maybe the Absinthe knocked a few screws loose. She shakes her head to try and get herself under control, but when she looks back up at Batman... she loses it again and can't help but laugh.

"what's with the..." Red Robin walks into the door and stops talking when he meets eye contact with her. She bites her lip to muffle her laughter and tries _again_ to stop laughing. 

_Chloe will never let me live this down._

"...her friends are harmless, B." 

_Cute. That's a cute nickname._

Batman doesn't respond, instead, he walks away from her and goes into the door he originally walked through. She continues to stare at Red Robin and eventually stops snickering. 

He runs his hands through his hair and looks behind him towards the door he came through. He looks back at her then shakes his head at the ground. 

"You guys are something else." 

She purses her lips and nods. They don't say anything but continue to stare at each other. Her left eye twitches before she finally breaks, "Red Robin can you please untie me?" 

He startles before nodding his head and walking into the room. He walks around her and carefully starts to untangle the ropes around her arms. She smiles to herself when he mutters, "why is it so tangled?" 

He eventually gets the last of the rope off of her and she stays frozen for a moment. She has no more restraints. They've dubbed them as relatively harmless and are now going to let them walk around freely? She slowly untucks her arms from the back of the chair and rests her hands on her thighs. 

It felt _so good_ to finally be able to move them freely. She rolls her shoulders then slowly gets up from her chair, slowly turns around, then blinks. 

Red Robin is really— _why are they all tall? Who gave them the tall genes? This is totally and utterly unfair._

They stare at each other before Marinette looks down at her shoes and shifts them around. They stay like that for a few moments before she hears a whistle from Chloe. 'Different'

She stills for a moment, blinking at the ground. What is her status? She looks up at Red Robin then tilts her head. She's safe, she isn't tied up anymore, Red Robin isn't in an aggressive pose... she turns towards the door and whistles 'Patience'. _Physically fine, mentally drained, but safe._

She knows that they're here against their will. She knows she should be mad, hell she's was pissed, and she knows that they aren't going to just let them go anytime soon. She also knows that Red Robin doesn't sleep a lot, though he's good at hiding it. Unfortunately, she knows the signs of someone dead on their feet. 

She starts to slowly walk to the door Red Robin used and waits for him to walk with her before, "Do you ever sleep?" 

She can hear how he pauses for a moment, just a _small moment_ but it was there. She smiles, they're sort of an open book if you know where to look. Her smile falters when she remembers Red Hood, his helmet sucks. It hides his face and voice... and his body wasn't always in her vision so she couldn't read it. 

_Stupid, stupid Red Hood._

"Your costume sucks." She rounds the corner of the door and grins when he lets out a small sputtering noise. 

Maybe they aren't going to leave soon. 

Maybe they won't tell her why she was kidnapped and tied to a chair. 

Maybe she can't physically do anything about it. 

But she does know she can control how she feels about it. 

And at the moment? 

She feels giddy and pissed off. 

She'll make sure they think twice before kidnapping 3 random civilians. 

Or maybe she'll make sure they never do it again. 

Hopefully. 

She frowns at the ground, she sure hopes she can, it's been a wild few hours and her head is killing her. She hopes no one else goes through this. 

Dewp down she also knows that they definitely will do this again. But she ignores it. 

Like everything else in her life she doesn't like. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> here are some links to the songs they whistle!
> 
> https://youtu.be/YNB2Cw5y66o?t=14
> 
> https://youtu.be/S_GckbhNzjo?t=13
> 
> https://youtu.be/wIm-tMAktTo?t=13
> 
> https://youtu.be/MkoeqtKUUe4?t=18


End file.
